Frost
by BBQkitten
Summary: "The great protector." Even in writing, the sarcasm in the sentence was plainly evident. The monster mocked him. Danced in front of his blind eyes, displaying how truly useless his weak human form really was. He was unable to protect them. He hadn't even been able to see who had done it. He had been in his weak human body, trapped by decisions past. Requested by Amyanddan


**Disclaimer: Don't own anything. **

The ground crunched beneath his feet. Every breath he took pierced his lungs with the wind's icy cold fury. It was a cold morning but Ichigo didn't feel it. He was already numb.

Ichigo slowly made his way up the hill, almost wishing he had stayed inside. Almost. The wind picked up and the boy subconsciously squeezed the flowers tighter in his already frozen hands. It wasn't until he had reached the top of the hill and was standing in front of them that he allowed the tears to fall; slowly at first, quickening in pace as the minutes passed. Before he knew it, loud sobs wracked his body and he fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around his stomach as if to hold himself together.

_It's all my fault. They're all dead because of me. _

His body shook as the tears froze against his cheeks. The flowers fell loosely from his grip, landing with a dull thud on the cold, hard ground causing him to unknowingly cry harder. Through tear-filled eyes he read the names still freshly engraved on the plaque. Right under his mother's name was his father's. _Kurosaki Isshin._ He was the first. His body was found floating in the river, a large wound in his stomach that had bled out in the water. Hollow reiatsu tainted Isshin's body, concentrating over the wound and his left hand where a single sentence was carved into his skin. Only two words but they caused the young boy to falter in his steps before running away so as to hide the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. _Your fault. _

When he saw the next name he let out a moan of anguish. _Kurosaki Yuzu._ She had been on her way home from the grocery store when it happened. The monster had come out of nowhere and attacked the defenseless girl. She was found hanging from a light post by her neck, grocery bags spilled across the ground, her chest spilt open, and a message carved into her left arm. _Stop me if you can. _The two remaining Kurosakis spent the following weeks in a blind stupor; they did everything they were told by those around them but could do nothing without a strong push in the back. It wasn't until they were behind closed doors, in the dark safety of Ichigo's bedroom at night, that they broke down and cried into each other's shoulders, holding on as tight as they could.

A month later Ichigo walked into his house only to find his only remaining sister sprawled out across the kitchen floor, wide-eyed and pale-faced, lying in a pool of her own blood. Ichigo caressed her name with one hand while the other tried to wipe the tears from his eyes so he could see her clearly. _Kurosaki Karin. _She had been sliced by a blade many times—practically diced into pieces. Her left arm held another message for the distraught human. _The great protector._ Even in writing, the sarcasm in the sentence was plainly evident. The monster mocked him. Danced in front of his blind eyes, displaying how truly useless his weak human form really was. He was unable to protect them. He hadn't even been able to see who had done it. He had been in his weak human body, trapped by decisions past.

Ichigo closed his eyes. He didn't want to read the last name; didn't want to see the finality of it all. He waited for the tears to stop and brought his hand down slightly to feel the indentations that created his name on the stone. _Kurosaki Ichigo._ He had been asleep when it happened; alone in an empty house, almost two months after Karin's death. He woke up to a sudden pain in his chest. He couldn't move, frozen to the bed as if he were incased in ice. Ichigo had looked down to his chest, the muted light coming from behind his curtains was enough to show the dark liquid beginning to stain his white t-shirt. He could do nothing. He couldn't see the sword buried in his chest, he couldn't see the assailant standing over him, he couldn't find the will to fight his invisible enemy. Instead, Ichigo chose to lay there—watch as the blood slowly spread across his torso. He felt more stabs penetrate his body and, slowly, they began to numb him. The boy pulled his eyes away from the blood staining shirt and gazed over longingly at the photo on his bedside table. It was an old photo one where everyone was smiling and happy. His parents wrapped in a loving embrace with Ichigo and his two sisters giving the cameraman large, cheesy grins. Karin and Yuzu were squishing Ichigo between them, which had caused them all to break out into laughter as the camera flashed. His eyes began to feel heavy as he watched the memory play over in his head. Before he fell into the blackness, he felt a small stinging on his left hand and heard a deep, gravely, malicious voice whisper in his ear, "_You lose_."

It hadn't been Urahara-san or Rukia or even Renji who had found him kneeling next to his body, a broken chain hanging limply from his chest—it was Byakuya. He had been there on the Soutaichou's orders, of course, but he couldn't help but feel something like sympathy for the boy who had lost everything and still had things being taken from him. The cold, sixth division taichou had knelt next to the boy, whose blank eyes caused some worry to twist the captain's heart, and placed a hand on his shoulder, breaking him from his stupor. Ichigo looked blankly at the man next to him before moving his eyes back to his body in front of him. Byakuya took a good look at the body too though wanting to look away as soon as he did. The child had been tortured, stabbed repeatedly until he had bled out. He was horrified. As he went to pull his head away, however, his gaze caught the boy's left hand. A sentence carved into his hand, much the same way as the rest of his family, caused the captain to tighten his grip on the child's arm and pull him into a one-way hug. _You lose._ He buried Ichigo's head into his shoulder, making sure to keep the grisly sight from his line of vision.

Slowly, Ichigo collapsed into the tight embrace, wrapping his arms around Byakuya's midsection and closing his eyes. Byakuya felt wetness on his neck and it took him a few moments to realize that Ichigo was crying. He gently began to rub the boy's back, whispering to the child about how it was all going to be alright even though he knew it wasn't. The best thing for Ichigo would be for him to cross over and forget everything that happened to him in this life. He truly hoped that that would be the case for the young boy.

Unfortunately, Ichigo remembered everything. Every gory detail from his human life. To make matters worse, it seemed that his shinigami powers did not return to him in his next life in Soul Society. He had been granted entrance to Seireitei but could not take the lieutenant position that had originally been set aside for him. With the memories eating away at him and his fresh reminder of his inability to protect Byakuya quickly saw him spiraling towards insanity. Without much thought, Byakuya offered to take custody of the catatonic boy. There was much arguing after that, making the boy's road to recovery much harder to begin. It seemed that everyone wanted the poor kid in their custody as well. Ichigo never said anything, choosing to stare blankly at a wall or floor wherever they had placed him that day. The feuding ended when Rukia went before the head captain and begged him to allow her Nii-sama and herself to watch over her friend. Byakuya was shocked by Rukia's boldness, asserting that her behavior must've come from spending one too many nights at the substitute shinigami's home, though he was thankful when her bold, and rather rash, actions caused the Soutaichou to declare Byakuya Ichigo's caretaker until the point in time that the boy would be able to care for himself.

The sixth division taichou led a silent Ichigo to a guest bedroom next to his own, leaving a new set of clothing on the folded out futon to replace the ratty ones he was currently wearing from his time in Rukongai. Byakuya called for a servant to prepare a bath for Ichigo while he showed him where everything was. He had left him alone then, coming back to collect him for dinner an hour later. He found Ichigo sitting cross-legged on his futon, freshly bathed and in clean clothes, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. They went down to the dining room and ate with Rukia—though you couldn't really call what Ichigo did eating—before retiring to their respective rooms. The next day, Byakuya left for work with strict instructions that Ichigo was not to remain in his room that day and to make sure he ate, granted he didn't need to eat as much as Byakuya did but he still wanted Ichigo to keep some semblance of normalcy. After Byakuya returned home he found Ichigo sitting next to the koi pond, lazily dragging a finger through the water.

He looked up at Byakuya and frowned slightly, "They kicked me out of my room."

The Kuchiki head couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped from his lips as he sat down next to Ichigo. "I told them to."

Ichigo's frown deepened as he turned back to the water. They spent the rest of their evening in silence together before Byakuya stood up as the sun fell below the horizon and held out a hand for Ichigo. Hesitantly, he allowed his hand to be engulfed in Byakuya's and was gently pulled up from the ground and led back to his room. This was how the following weeks passed, Byakuya would leave and his servants would keep Ichigo busy, then Byakuya would come home and find Ichigo sitting by the koi pond. He would join the boy there and, slowly, Ichigo began to open up to the stoic captain and in return, Byakuya did the same. Without even realizing it, the two had become fast friends. Ichigo still didn't laugh, or cry, or make much of an indication that he was feeling any emotion at all, but Byakuya could see the life slowly filling up his eyes again which was enough for the captain's peace of mind. A few months later, Byakuya was able to convince Ichigo to take a walk with him around Seireitei on his day off. The walk allowed the other shinigami to take inventory of Ichigo and allow them to come to the conclusion that Byakuya did not, in fact, kill their favorite ex-substitute shinigami—much to Byakuya's chagrin.

One night Byakuya woke to screaming from the room next to his—Ichigo's. He hastily made his way to Ichigo's side where he saw that the child was still asleep. _A nightmare_, Byakuya realized as he gathered the still sleeping Ichigo into his arms, rocking him back and forth in a soothing gesture. He ignored Rukia's frozen body standing in the doorway, biting her nail in worry, as he rubbed comforting circles on Ichigo's back and hummed quietly in his ear, hoping to ease the boy back into a dreamless sleep. Slowly, Ichigo's whimpers disappeared and were replaced with soft uneven breaths. Byakuya went to lay Ichigo back down on his futon but the hands that had been loosely gripping his hakama tightened and Ichigo let out a quiet whimper. He sighed and pulled the younger closer to him again. He dismissed Rukia with the assurance that they would be fine and gently slid Ichigo and himself down onto the futon, the tight grip on his hakama never leaving. As soon as they were lying down, Ichigo nuzzled his face into Byakuya's chest and let out a contented sigh. After a few minutes, Byakuya closed his eyes and succumbed to the sleep that had slowly been worming its way into his brain.

When they woke up, Ichigo was expectedly embarrassed and tried to apologize to Byakuya more than once that day, who, every time an apology was made, waved it off and continued with whatever they were doing. Ichigo had more nightmares and every time Byakuya was there to comfort him. It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that while they were in a much familiar position, Ichigo in Byakuya's lap while the older man rubbed soothing circles on his back, that Ichigo woke up with a startled gasp. He pulled away from Byakuya slightly to look into the captain's eyes in a teary recognition. "I thought you were dead," he murmured brokenly before wrapping his arms tightly around Byakuya's neck and pressing their lips together in a fierce kiss. Byakuya was frozen for a moment before pulling Ichigo closer and wrapping his arms more firmly around his small waist. When they broke apart they were both gasping for breath and before Ichigo could apologize, Byakuya gently placed his lips over the boy's again, silencing any attempts at an apology.

From that point on they became even closer than they already were. Byakuya even caught Ichigo smiling on more than one occasion. They were officially a couple and no one could be happier than Rukia who was finally able to catch glimpses of her old Ichigo again. She was also happy that her brother was finally smiling again, though rarely and always in private.

Ichigo looked at the memorial as a whole, allowing the frozen tears to languidly make their way down his face in a slower procession than they were previously.

"You dropped your flowers." Byakuya kneeled down next to Ichigo and picked up the strewn flowers, using the hair-tie around his wrist to create a bouquet before placing them on the small alter. "They're in a better place."

Ichigo nodded and leaned against the firm chest next to him allowing Byakuya to wrap an arm around his shoulders. When Ichigo spoke, Byakuya didn't have to question the meaning behind his words. They were simple and strait forward. They were for everything and nothing. They filled him with both happiness and sadness. And all he could do was wrap his arms tighter around Ichigo's small frame and place a kiss on his forehead.

"Thank you."

**AN: I'm DONE! Yay! I have had no time lately so I feel bad for taking so long on getting these requests up. This one was for Amyanddan. :) Please let me know how I did by leaving me a review. I truly love to read what you guys think of my work, so keep the reviews coming good or bad!**

**Also, if you have any requests please feel free to leave them in a review or PM and I'll try to make it happen. **

**Next up is Ichigo/Shuuhei for blackravens4 who left me a million and a half reviews (thank you so much!) so hopefully that one will be up by tomorrow.**

**Please Review! :)**


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